THE
question of imparting quality education to women assumes
significance when viewed in the perspective of their
emancipation, enlightenment, development and empowerment in a
male-dominated society. As in the western hemisphere, women
studies in this part of the world are gathering momentum and a
realisation is dawning on everyone that education of women can
play a role in removing inequality and exploitation as also in
motivating and equipping them to fully participate in all
socio-economic-political activities.

Dr N.L.
Gupta, Assistance Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyala Sangathan,
Bhopal, has written extensively on the various aspects of
academic life in the country and in this particular work, as
the title indicates, he has concentrated on education of women
in India through the ages, beginning with the vedic period and
up to the present phase through 11 chapters followed by three
appendices. Dr Gupta seeks to study and analyse the factors
and social and historical forces which have traditionally
worked for or against the cause of educating women.

It is noteworthy that both the
UN Charter Declaration and the Constitution of India guarantee
equal opportunity and rights to men and women and from this
follows the fundamental right of women to receive the benefits
of education on equal footing with man. Their education will
not only refine and enrich their own lives, but also the lives
of their families and consequently society and the nation will
be immensely benefited. To quote Rene Maheu, a former
Director-General of UNESCO, No country can afford to leave
half of its population in relative ignorance which makes them
a brake on development instead of a motive force in it.

That is why
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone
has a right to education. In November, 1967, the UN General
Assembly adopted a declaration on discrimination against women
and later called the years 1975-85 as the Women s Development
Decade. In India, too, the women decade was observed, during
which women raised their voice to get rid of
gender-discrimination and exploitation.

As a result,
several committees and commissions came into existence to look
into the problems of unjust social order unfavourable to
women. These bodies chalked out a number of schemes aimed at
universalisation of education, particularly of girls belonging
to the poor and backward strata of society.

To achieve
this objective, recommendations for generous assistance in the
form of stipend, scholarship, stationery, textbooks, midday
meal, free or subsidised transport, etc. were made. The
involvement of NGOs, wealthy individuals, local bodies and
grass-root workers were also sought to be encouraged. Almost
all five year Plans have also laid emphasis on the removal of
disparities in educational opportunities for women. Various
documents on the national policy of education, framed from
time to time, gave priority to the removal of women illiteracy
and sex stereotyping.

A clear
ambivalence has traditionally marked the attitude of the
male-controlled Indian society towards women and their
education. On the one hand, they have been adored as paragons
of beauty, grace, virtue, energy, compassion, tolerance,
selfless service, sacrifice, etc. while, on the other, they
have been depicted as mere sex objects, only to serve, please
and entertain the male of the species. There are goddesses
like Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Usha and Aditi, virtuous
women like Sita, Urmila, Savitri, and Damayanti; yet on the
whole women have suffered discrimination, injustice and
exploitation at the hands of men at all levels.

In the vedic
period only women belonging to royal and aristocratic families
received education in theology, philosophy, etc. while common
women were doomed to illiteracy.

In the period
of post-vedic epics suchh as the Ramayana and the Mahabharta
the situation continued. Buddhism and Jainism, which came into
existence as a revolt against Brahminism, tried to assign a
honourable place to women in society, but in actual practice,
nuns were usually subordinate to the supreme authority of
monks, and female education in general remained sadly
neglected.

Though the
Muslim rulers established a number of educational institutions
known as madrasas, it was not considered desirable and
necessary to open their portals for women. Of course the girls
of the well-to-do and royal families received some kind of
education in their houses, and this is evidenced by the
achievements of Razia Sultan, Chand Bibi, Nurjahan, etc.
During the period between the invasion of Mohammad Ghauri and
the advent of British rule, the position of women deteriorated
further as they became the victims of the purdah system,
female infanticide, child marriage, sati, etc. It may be
called the darkest period so far as education of women is
concerned.

Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,
Annie Besant and other reformist leaders, with the help of
enlightened British rulers and sChristian missionaries made
efforts to free women from barbaric victimisation and also to
give them education. Consequently, several schools,
exclusively for women, came up in Bengal, Madras and Bombay
provinces. Gradually, the doors of the institutions of higher
learning were also opened for them. The Lady Harding Medical
College, Delhi, and Women s University were established in
1916.

In
post-independence India, women have gained acceptance in all
studies — arts, commerce and science. They are brilliant and
often excel boys in bagging ranks, prizes and medals. They
have made their mark as illustrious professors, doctors,
engineers, scientists, judges, lawyers and IAS/IPS/Allied
services/PCS officers, etc. This is a tribute as much to their
efficiency as to the wisdom of those in charge of planning and
implementing proper educational openings for them.

The benefits
of the measures can be seen by anybody interested in the cause
of female literacy. An educated woman is an asset to her
family as well as to the nation. She emerges as a more
enlightened individual, house manager, mother and political
worker.

The
importance of a book like this cannot be over-emphasised. It
would have been better if it were free of linguistic faults.
On page 105 Among the many Muslim colleges, which rose to
prominence from time to time it is difficult to make a
selection for special description. But it is difficult to make
a choice for special description.

The book also
suffers from a number of jarring repetitions - pages 79, 80
and 82 have duplication regarding Jainism and Buddhism; pages
22 and 97 regarding the Islamic system. Yet another irritant
is the superfluous material on many pages. The detailed
description of the birth, marriage and the suffering of Sita
is one example.

Such stories may have a lot
of religious interest, but strictly in terms of women s
education, the main topic of this study, they only divert
attention and hence lesson the impact of the work.